Be Mythical How to guide children into connection with nature, spirit and magic - Huw Mackin
This week's show is with Huw Mackin. Huw Mackin is a British Shamanic practitioner, residential child practitioner, a highly qualified outdoor professional, international mountain leader, natural horse handler, bushcraft and survival expert, and above all else, a father.
Huw came from a long profession working with emotionally traumatised children and young people for local authorities and other institutions. Inspired by the shortcomings of these institutions, Huw created long term immersive wilderness based programs for local authorities focused on rehabilitating children deemed ‘unreachable’, with great success.
The progression of Huw’s professional career, along with his own personal healing journey, and the realisation that the problems facing humanity today stem from a lost connection with the natural world, inspired Huw to launch his company: Primal Healing, which offers a range of healings, expeditions, courses and programs designed to support people back into relationship with the natural world, one of which being ‘Wildlings school of Woodcraft & Wiccary’, the UK’s first animistic nature based school for children.
Taking inspiration from present day indigenous tribal cultures, folklore, mythology, this land’s history and our ancestral spiritual heritage, Huw created Wildlings School, offering children a greater understanding of how to maintain a direct and boundless relationship with this truly magical world through exploration and play.
Wildlings School of Woodcraft and Wiccary - where folklore is law, magic is real and everything is possible.
In this show, we spoke about... children and animism. We explored Huw's own challenges in childhood, including spending time in care, and the way his connection with nature was so important to him; his journey to this point of working with children and introducing them to Spirit via nature; and finally, Huw shared some practical ways, care givers can introduce children to this path.
I’d love to know what YOU think about this week's show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment below.
What you'll learn from this episode:- I loved what Huw said about how children are naturally immersed in a magical world and then as adults, we feel a deep yearning for it - guiding our children to create a relationship to nature as the tangible face of Spirit allows them to never grow out of magic.
- Whilst nature connection via rewilding can be beneficial, what are we connecting to? Communing with nature as an intentional opening to Spirit is what allows all of us to reclaim the deeply connected way of living that is our heritage and birthright.
- Be led by the child. Adopt a spot - in the garden or somewhere on local land, build a relationship with it, making offerings, and share stories about the myths of the land.
- Wildlings School of Woodcraft & Wiccary Official Website
- Wildlings School of Woodcraft & Wiccary Instagram: @wildlings_school
- Follow Huw in Social Media:
- Instagram: @huwmackin
- Facebook: Huw Mackin
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Thank you! Lian & Jonathan